Lost and Found
by jemb
Summary: Brennan finds Parker lost in the park. BB friendship all the way


The warm afternoon sun is starting to set in the quiet deserted park. Temperance Brennan has been sitting on a bench for several hours, lost in a journal about carbon dating and ancient remains. When she first decided to go to the park earlier in the day to read she wondered why she felt the need to. But as soon as she got there she realised how relaxing it was. Normally she is surrounded by her work, artefacts and constant distractions, including one Seely Booth who always seems to turn up in her office when she least needs it. But out here there is peace and quiet and for the first time in weeks she has not felt stressed or overworked.

Brennan glances up from her book when she senses someone in front of her. Even when she's relaxed she remains on guard and she immediately senses another presence in her space. Standing on the grass just two feet from her is a little boy. She's only seen him a couple of times but she knows exactly who this little boy is. His deep brown chocolate eyes give it away. _Just like his father's_ she thinks

"Parker?" she asks. The little boy remains silent. "Do you remember me?" Brennan asks. "I'm a friend of you're father's, I'm Temperance." Parker just stares at Brennan. "Are you here with your dad, or your mom?" Brennan asks. Her eyes glance around for Booth or a woman looking for a child.

"Mommy." Parker whispers shyly.

"Have you lost her?" Brennan probes. Parker nods and Brennan stands up, placing her journal on the bench beside her bag. The park is almost empty and the only people Brennan can see are some teenagers by the skate park and an elderly couple walking along the path.

"I'm going to call your dad." Brennan says to Parker. "And then we can find your mom." She assures him. Parker nods and sits down, his legs dangling from the bench. Brennan takes a seat beside him and pulls out her cell, dialling Booth's number.

"Booth." He answers.

"It's me." Brennan says.

"Hey Bones, what's going on?" Booth asks. He doesn't currently have a case with her so is a little surprised to receive a call.

"I'm in the park on east and 14th street." She says. "Parker is with me."

"What?" Booth sounds totally confused.

"He's lost Rebecca." Brennan explains. "I don't see her anywhere and I don't really want to take Parker away from here in case Rebecca is looking for him."

"Stay where you are. I'll call Rebecca and come over." Booth sounds a little panicked, something Brennan has never really seen in him before. "Can you put Parker on?" he asks. Brennan passes the phone to Parker who clasps it with two hands. "It's your dad." She tells him. She watches as Parker listens to Booth.

"Hey bub, it's daddy." Booth says.

"Daddy, I can't find mommy." Parker says. Brennan notes how he sounds scared and upset.

"It's okay. Daddy's coming to get you. Parker, the lady you're with, she's a friend of daddy's."

"Tempranth told me." Parker replies.

"I want you to stay with Temperance until I get there, okay bub?" Booth says.

"Okay." Parker passes the phone back to Brennan.

"Bones, I'll be there as soon as I can." He assures her.

"Okay Booth." Brennan hangs up the phone and turns to Parker. She has no idea what to say to him so picks up her journal.

"You want to look at some pictures?" she asks. Parker nods and she opens the journal.

With dusk falling and the temperature dropping Brennan notices that Parker only has a sweater on. _He must be getting cold _she thinks. So she slips her jacket off and holds it out.

"Here Parker, put this on." She tells him. "It's getting cold." Parker wriggles his arms into Brennan's jacket and she carefully buttons it up around him. "That's better." She smiles. Then, wrapping her arms around her chest she looks out for Booth. She isn't sure where he was coming from so she has no idea how long he'll take to get to the park.

Half an hour later Brennan is getting worried. The sun has gone down and the park is getting dark and very cold. Brennan tries to rub away the goose bumps on her arm as she scans the park for signs of Booth. She finally relaxes when she spots him jogging towards them. He's wearing a suit, so she figures he must have been at work. Brennan does some quick calculations and figures out he travelled a distance that would normally take fifty minutes in just thirty. _He must have put the siren on_ she thinks.

"Daddy!" Parker calls out and jumps to his feet when he sees Booth. Booth reaches the pair and quickly scoops Parker into his arms and kisses the top of his head.

"Hey buddy." He hugs the boy close to him. "You okay?"

"Tempranth gave me her jacket." He tugs at the material of the jacket. Booth looks over at Brennan who is standing rather awkwardly with her arms wrapped tight around her. Booth can see the goose bumps on her arms and knows she's cold. _She's taking care of my son. The woman who doesn't know how to get along with children is looking after my kid_ he thinks.

Booth lowers Parker to the ground and rubs the top of his head.

"Rebecca isn't answering her phone." Booth tells Brennan in a worried tone. "I've called her cell and her home number." He looks around the darkening park. "I'm worried something has happened to her."

"I'm sure she's just looking for Parker." Brennan offers. She rubs her arms and looks around the park, scanning for signs of Rebecca. Behind her, Booth slips off his suit jacket. When Brennan turns back he's holding it out.

"You're cold Bones, here." He offers it to her. Brennan glances at the jacket then at Booth. She lowers her arms and Booth takes this as a yes. Opening the jacket out he leans over and drapes it around Brennan's shoulders. She then slips her arms into the sleeves and crosses her arms.

"Thanks." She replies almost shyly. "So what now?" Brennan asks. She looks down at Parker who is now sitting on the grass poking at bugs.

"I take him home, call local hospitals and police stations." Booth shrugs. "I don't know what else to do." He notices that Brennan is staring off into the distance. "Bones?" he asks.

"Maybe that won't be necessary." Brennan points to the opposite side of the park where a woman is running towards them with a police officer at her side. Booth looks over at her and recognises her as Rebecca.

It takes a few minutes for the two to reach Booth, Brennan and Parker. When they do Rebecca goes straight to Parker and hugs him to her.

"What happened?" Booth demands.

"I took my eyes off him for just a second and when I turned back he was gone." Rebecca says. "I was looking for him when I got mugged." She pulls a stray hair back from her face.

"There's been a spate of muggings in the area." The police officer confirms. "I found the young lady quite distressed." He adds.

"Are you alright?" Booth asks. He doesn't notice Brennan stepping away from the group. She's starting to feel like a loose end in this little family reunion.

"I'm fine." Rebecca says. "But I thought I had lost Parker." She stands up but keeps a tight hold of Parker's hand. "How did you find him?" she asks, suddenly aware of the situation. "I hadn't even called you."

"We won't go into that now Rebecca." Booth refers to her not telling him his son was missing for over two hours. "But I didn't find him. Parker found Dr Brennan." Booth glances over at Brennan, smiling a little at how cute she looks in his suit jacket. "She called me."

"Thank you." Rebecca turns to Brennan. "Thank you for taking care of my little boy."

"Of course." Brennan shrugs.

Booth and Brennan are left in the darkened park after the police officer escorts Rebecca and Parker to his car to take them home.

"You need a ride home?" Booth asks Brennan. She bends down and picks up her book and bag.

"I can walk." She says without looking at him.

"Bones." Booth raises his eyebrows at her.

"Okay, fine." She smiles. "A ride would be nice, thank you." They walk side by side across the park to the parking lot where Booth abandoned his car. He really was in a hurry because his car his parked awkwardly, like he just screeched in and abandoned it. _He probably did_ Brennan thinks. She then starts to wonder what he must have been feeling when he called. Not having children she doesn't know how he must have worried.

"Bones?" Booth says.

"Hmm?" she turns her head to look at him.

"You were in wonderland." He smiles.

"Wonderland?"

"You know, away with the fairies, zoned out…" Booth stares at her.

"I was just thinking." She replies.

"About?" he probes.

"Nothing much." She smiles and pulls open the passenger door. After slipping, Booth shuts the door for her and jogs around to the driver's side. A few minutes later they are on the open road.

"Bones"

"Yeah?" she asks, turning to face him.

"Thank you for looking out for my son." He says seriously.

"I'd do it for anyone." She adds.

"But you did it for me. Parker means the world to me." _Like you_. "And if anything had happened to him I don't know what I'd do."

"Nothing happened though Booth."

"It could have and I really appreciate that you took such good care of him and called me right away." Brennan doesn't know what to say so she remains silent. "I'll make sure you get your jacket back."

"No hurry Booth." She adds.

"So what were you doing in the park anyway?" he asks suddenly.

"Just reading." She shrugs.

"I didn't think you were the park kind of person."

"I'm not normally. It was just really peaceful."

"Until my son turned up huh?" Booth smiles.

"He was very good." Brennan tells him. "Calm as well, considering."

"He's obviously comfortable with you." Booth grins at the thought that his son has taken to Brennan. _Parker never really took to any of my other girlfriends. Wait, 'other'? Bones isn't my girlfriend _he corrects himself.

"Hey Booth, that's my turn." Brennan says quickly. Booth is so distracted by his thoughts that he almost misses the turn but he manages to swing the SUV onto the street nonetheless. He then comes to a stop outside Brennan's building. After she's taken off her seatbelt Brennan slips Booth's jacket off and hands it to him.

"Thank you." She tells him.

"No Bones. Thank you." He leans over and kisses her softly on the cheek. It takes Brennan by surprise and Booth notices how her eyes widen at the gesture of thanks.

"I'll see you at work Bones." He smiles.

"Uh huh." She nods and steps out the SUV. Before she closes the door she leans in.

"I'm glad everything turned out okay with Parker." She says. She flashes him a smile before she hurries towards the front entrance to her building. Booth watches her go and says a silent prayer that she was in the park today. _If she wasn't there… _he stops himself from thinking anything else and pulls the car away from the kerb to go home and call Rebecca. _We need to talk about why she didn't call me. _

**_Okay, let me apologise for putting Parker in danger again but he makes such a cute subject to base a story about Booth and Brennan around. I promise I'll never made anything really bad happen to him. I hope you enjoyed this. if you did then please review as it inspires me to write more stories for you all. Thanx_**


End file.
